HH: I have been terrific, and I hope you’re having a good time at this. Let me dive in. I know your time is limited. I was just talking with the audience about the networks’ decision not to carry even a minute of the opening night of the Republican National Convention. What do you make of that?

PR: You know, I didn’t know that until you just now said that. The way I’ve always looked at this is we can’t expect the media to amplify our message clearly. We have to get it out ourselves, and through alternative means like your show. So I think it’s disappointing, it’s unfortunate, but you know, I can’t say it’s a huge surprise, because that’s just par for the course. As a conservative, I’m kind of used to that sort of treatment.

HH: All right, Congressman, a lot of people care about policy, but I’m more interested in biography. You’ve been on the program a number of times, and we’ll have you back and talk policy, but since you’re going to be the nominee, let’s do a little biography.

PR: Well, I’m just from a fairly typical middle income family. My dad was a small town lawyer in Janesville, my mom stayed at home. I’ve got an older sister and two older brothers. My dad died when I was pretty young, in high school when I was 16. My mom then went back to school, learned a trade, and then started a small business and had three or four employees. My grandmother moved in with us at the time. She was suffering from Alzheimer’s. So you know, I kind of grew up a little faster than most young people did, I guess. I became very intellectually curious. That’s what got me into studying economics. So I spent a lot of time as a young guy studying economics. My goal in life was to, you know, the University of Chicago and get my PhD and be an economist, was what I sort of thought I was going to do. And I ended up working in D.C. for some conservatives, for some think tanks. Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett were my two big mentors who I worked for, and that got me involved in public policy and public service. I went back home to Janesville and ran for an open seat when I was pretty young, 28 years old, and I’ve served in Congress since then. I’ve chaired the Budget Committee. You know me, so you know I’m a conservative. I believe in pro-growth economics, limited government, the founding principles, the Constitution, and I’ve been putting ideas out there over the years how to get this country on the right track.

HH: That’s why I think…

PR: And that sort of…

HH: That’s why I think people are so excited about your candidacy is you’re an ideas guy. But did you go to parochial school?

PR: Yeah, I went to Catholic school from first through eighth grade, and then I went to public school after that.

HH: Now which, what was the name of the parochial school in Janesville?

PR: St. Mary’s Catholic School.

HH: And did you play youth sports?

PR: Yeah, of course. I played basketball, soccer, track, all correct.

HH: And what was your first job?

PR: Well, you can get a job as a very young kid in Wisconsin in detasseling corn. So for people not in the Midwest, what that means is you walk down a corn row, and you snap the tassels off the corn to help pollinate the corn. I had a lot of landscaping jobs, a lot of lawn mowing jobs. I worked at McDonald’s, waited tables, was a fitness trainer, sold meat for Oscar Meyer, I had a lot…I painted houses, lots of different jobs.

HH: You worked at McDonald’s?

PR: Yeah, I was, you know, a funny story is the manager said I didn’t have the social skills to work the front, so he put me on the quarter pounder grill.

HH: (laughing)

PR: So now I’m in Congress, I say. It’s kind of funny.

HH: Now I want you to help the media out. Which of your teachers from elementary or high school do you want the media to find, and which ones do you not want them to find?

PR: Mostly I had nuns, and I was scared to death of them back then. So you know, they’re at a retirement center, a few of them, in Wisconsin. They’re Dominicans. And you know…

HH: We lost you there, Congressman. Are you still with us? Go ahead. Oh, we’re losing him there…Congressman, we lost you there.

PR: Sorry about that.

HH: That’s okay. Hey, in high school, what did you do in high school? Were you a speech and debate guy? Were you a bandie? What were you?

PR: No, I was student government and athletics, honor society, you know, that kind of thing. I was kind of a combination. I was class president my junior year, I was the school board rep my senior year. I lettered in varsity, you know, my first year in high school, mostly soccer and track. I was a distance runner and a soccer player. So kind of well-rounded. I can’t, I can play a cowbell. That’s about it for instruments.

HH: Are you still running?

PR: Yeah, I hurt a disc in my back, so I don’t run marathons anymore. I just run ten miles or yes.

HH: But you did run marathons at some point?

PR: Yeah, but I can’t do it anymore, because my back is just not that great.

HH: I’ve just gotta ask, what’s your personal best?

PR: Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something.

HH: Holy smokes. All right, now you go down to Miami University…

PR: I was fast when I was younger, yeah.

HH: I got so much email when I referred to it as Miami University of Ohio, and you know, I’ve got ties to Miami University, but they wanted me to call it The Miami University. You’re Delta Tau Delta, right?

PR: Right, right.

HH: All right, now I spent a few nights in the rack room at the Pike House in the 70s, and you guys had some fun at Miami. Do we have to worry about any stories coming out of Oxford?

PR: No, no, normal clean-cut college fun. You know, the rack room that I had slept in is about, I don’t know, you could hit it with a hard ball from the Pike rack room. It’s maybe a hundred yards.

HH: Okay…

PR: So pretty close.

HH: Now the media’s going to try and trip you up on the big change from Redskins to Redhawks, and they’re going to try and get you to say something politically incorrect. What are you going to say about that?

PR: The school made its own choice. I was there, and it was the Miami Redskins when I was there, and now it’s the Miami Redhawks.

HH: Okay, that’s a great answer. Stick with that. Last question, you know, Bennett can’t get through an hour without mentioning he is your mentor. I want five bucks for every time Bill Bennett takes credit for you.

PR: (laughing)

HH: So tell us about the salt mine he ran at Empower America, but more importantly, about the ideas there, and what that gave to you working for that kind of place at that kind of time.

PR: That was a very formative stage of my life. You know, working in the conservative movement for the likes of Bill Bennett, Jack Kemp and Jean Kirkpatrick, I was the economics guy. And so I staffed Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett on any economics issue, whether it was tax reform, monetary policy, sound money. That was where I really honed a lot of my views, and where I got acquainted with just really the policy reformers of our time in the conservative movement. And it was what got me into public policy. You know, Jack Kemp had this sort of infectious enthusiasm, and I had planned on doing this for a little while, then I wanted to be an economist. That was my plan in life. But what Jack sort of brought me into was this notion that at a young age, you can make a big difference. The battle of ideas is worth fighting. This country is so unique and exceptional, and it just really sparked, it triggered a spark in me, which is what basically caused me to change my sort of path I had planned for myself in life and get involved in public policy and public service. And that’s what I’ve done. And I’m a big ideas guy. I believe in the battle of ideas. I believe in liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self-determination, government by the consent of the governed, all those founding principles. Our rights come from nature and God, not government.

HH: Well, keep fighting for those, Congressman. Come back early and often. My view is the more you talk, the better off this country’s going to be, and the more Republicans are going to win. Thank you, Chairman Paul Ryan for joining us. Look forward to your nomination. See you, I hope, in Tampa Bay.

USA encourages fleeing CCP Thieving Fugitives to Uhaul their loots to America. Wang Guoqiang fled China with $31M Bribes received from Corrupt Realtors & Heating companies. History repeats itself. Like National Socialist German Workers Party and Bolsheviks Thieves who fled Berlin to America with all their Loots.

Wang Guoqiang, the Communist Party head of Fengcheng Liaoning, fled the country with $31 million. (Weibo.com) The Chinese Communist Party chief of a northeastern city in Liaoning Province fled the country with tens of millions of dollars in another sign that corruption among Chinese officials is rampant and ongoing. The case was reported by state-run and other Chinese media on Wednesday. Wang Guoqiang, the Communist Party head of Fengcheng, and his wife disappeared in April, taking around 200 million yuan ($31 million) with them. He didn’t say where he was going. Local officials have not confirmed that he left with the money, but merely said that he left, according to the Shanghai Daily. “We are unfamiliar with his case,” an official with Fengcheng told the newspaper. According to the Daily report, Wang brought the embezzled money to the United States, where a number of his family members live, but it is unclear if he went there himself. Wang was being investigated for taking bribes from local property developers and from a heating company. Wang was officially removed as the Communist Party chief of the city and was replaced by Ma Yanchuan, who used to serve as the mayor. In recent years, numerous Chinese Communist officials have fled the country, oftentimes embezzling millions of dollars. Wang left the country under the auspices of “conducting a field study” before investigators could arrest him for alleged corruption charges, the Daily reported. Leaked documents obtained by The Epoch Times in July show that as of November 2011, 7,101 corrupt officials fled to the United States and brought $52.7 billion with them. High-level authorities in the ruling Party have also expressed worry about so-called “naked officials,” who have a wife or relatives living outside of China.

State-run media have reported on corrupt officials fleeing the country. The Global Times, under the supervision of Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, in an editorial on Tuesday said that when the ruling Party “covers over” such scandals, it “only lets them fester.” “Wang’s flight is certainly a scandal. It would be good for the officials if such a scandal could be hidden, but that’s hardly realistic,” it said, adding that Liaoning officials should disclose information about Wang. “They can publish what they know so as to stop speculation on the Internet.” The Times said that people will find out sooner or later.

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Dubai Turnes Marketplace Victims to Urban Criminals. Dubai ain’t Going Places no mo. It’s an International Debt Prison. Please open your mind and listen. It’s Free. Let’s take Busting Zac Shahin for instance as ugly as it goes: Shahin is a Hezbollah Dickhead (he will swear on his Bitch-Mom Tombstone that he’s ain’t. Check his DNA). Shahin gets US Passport outta Ohio Honky Tonk Badonkadonk Corrupt le-Migra (who is selling America cheap as Budweiser). Shahin Fly to Dubai as Hotshot American Businessman. Shahin gets introduced to Royal Circle by Prepaid Maronite Lebanese Hooker (male) & Bribed Iranian Kingmaker who can penetrate Dubai APARTHEID for big money. Shahin peculate Kajillions Outta Deceptive Realtors. Great job Shahin! Mabrook. No. Shahin gets busted instead. To lose weight & get some attention He goes on hunger strike. Shahin uses his Kajillions to draft an army of American Media Whores to Sponsor for him Weathercast and Christian-Dior his Predicament allover News Headlines & as Pricy as Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, AFP, US-Today, Washington Post, Washington Times, New York Times, LA Times, Fox News, Mother-Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Michael savage, Jihadwatch, Hugh Hewitt, Israel Hayom. Shahin strains UAE & USA Beasty Sex Bondage. USA-Roosters threaten their UAE-Bed Partners to knock them out and dole Democracy if Shahin ain’t released. Shahin Kajillions worked again. He goes on bail. Shahin violates probation and flees to Yemen. Yemen ships Shahin back to Dubai Lest Dubai Police Recruit Sudanese instead of Yemenis in Police Force. Boooring Booollywoood Damn Boooring. In order to stop people running away with Marketplace Victims money. Dubai must Abolish Debt Penitentiary policy for good. Its ain’t civilized. Dubai is above that. Dubai most Discharge all Debt Prisoners right away because they stole neither government nor individuals, they simply defaulted on debts and that’s not government business it’s individuals. The problem lies with Dubai Stooopid Regulators (if any) who didn’t coerce Creditors take government prior permission to execute Debt Prone Transactions and to its help when they fucked-up. The Stooopid Regulators (if any) left Dubai as Laughingstock among nations & Setting-Duck in Crossfire among PARTNERS-in-KRIME. Dubai can use Smarter Formulas & Minds to secure Marketplace Victims Debts & Stop Defaults instead of mocking Marketplace Victims in Prison. Dubai has no right to Block Debtors Passport to Forbid Debtors Traveling and to Deprive Debtors from carry on with their Lawful Lives. Prisons are for Thieves not Marketplace Victims. 99% of Dubai Urban Crimes are bounced CHEQUES. Dubai must abolish also postdated CHEQUES scam. Any postdated CHEQUE is payable once presented no matter CHEQUE date is. Unless it is insured, underwritten or guaranteed. Dubai police has no business to apprehend CHEQUE Bouncers. Since both Creditors & Debtors are PARTNERS-in-KRIME. It’s Courts Business not Police. Let Marketplace rescue its Victims. Abolishing postdates by law will increase cash Liquidity in Debt-Laden Dubai and will encourage fled Investors to come back to push Dubai ahead of her time as used to do. It is too naïve to believe that people who are currently running businesses are the good guys and the people who are apprehended or fled Dubai are the bad guys. That’s ain’t true. It’s the contrary and the opposite is right. Dubai is Debt Prison not Jerusalem or Shiloh to attract Street-Smarts. Though Dubai inaccurately brand itself as Smart City. No it ain’t no mo. It’s a smutty scion Den struggles to survive through Prodigal Guided Greed. Meanness is Status Quo in Dubai’s in all aspects of walks of life. Dubai Exploited Human innocence to strike Rich. Smart & Enterprising Entrepreneurs left Dubai for the Dumb and the Useless who ain’t reign elsewhere. The litmus Test of All-That-Jazz of the Marketplace Downtime is the Ailing Monetary who let lose Drifting along Harakiri Dollar Committing Suicide. It ain’t stands a last dance with as-petty-as Indian Rupee.

Her’s some Chron Sham to go:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fugitive American businessman fighting fiscal corruption charges in Dubai has been returned to the United Arab Emirates after fleeing to Yemen, a spokesman said Saturday. The return of Zack Shahin to UAE custody ends his bid to get American diplomatic assistance to return to the U.S. via Yemen and presumably escape a legal battle in Dubai dating back to 2008. He denies any wrongdoing and, after four years without a trial, questions whether he will receive fair treatment. The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi had no immediate comment. Shahin, who was born in Lebanon and raised in Ohio, was detained by Yemeni authorities last month after slipping into the country. He was released from a Dubai jail in July after posting a $1.4 million bail following a hunger strike that brought the U.S. government into a rare public dispute with its close UAE ally over Shahin’s demand for a trial. Washington-based spokesman Darren Spinck said Yemeni authorities put Shahin on a plane Saturday to be returned to the UAE “without a court hearing on extradition.” No other details were immediately available on Shahin’s whereabouts, but his flight could become a fresh point of tension between the U.S. and the UAE. Shahin faces charges of financial improprieties during his time as CEO of a Dubai-based property company, Deyaar Development. Deyaar was one of a host of Dubai-based developers that shot to prominence during the emirate’s building boom last decade. He was arrested in 2008 as part of a probe into alleged embezzlement by executives at the company. American officials in the UAE took an unusually public role in advocating for Shahin’s right to a trial as his health deteriorated from the hunger strike and other ailments such as high blood pressure. Spinck said the 52-year-old Shahin had at least three medical “emergencies” while in Yemeni custody, but no details were immediately available. The seven-state UAE federation, which includes the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is OPEC’s third-largest oil producer. It maintains strong economic ties with the U.S. and hosts important American air bases and other strategic sites.

Peculator Barclays appoints Two Wall-Street Knockouts to their Banks Debt Prisons: Jenkins Citi-Reject for CEO and Walker Morgan-Stanley Dinosaur for Chair. Looks as if Bank of England is in a larger problem than US Regulators & UK Watchdogs thought. City of London is desperate for Fiat Money supply from Across the Ocean to Survive. Bernanke is frightened of Overtrading Peculator Barclays Rigged interest on New Editions to afloat Sterling Pound than hedge to allow Dollar Printed outta thin air nest into World Monetary and become Real Money than Fiat-in-Fact. TSC Chairman Andrew Tyrie memo ‘nod and wink’ is a Joke. The House of Commons Treasury Select Committee hearing was a Theatrical Drama. What would you expect from MP who defaulted on Barclays-Card to tell Bob Diamond beside: “Fuck Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Please extend my Credit Limit until December”. It’s Bloody Hurry Potter Country Boys!

And now to the Anglosexual Bats Googledjunk & Wikitrash, the Mayhem, and the Misinformation!

Barclays appoints retail boss Jenkins as CEO

By Sarah White and Steve Slater

LONDON, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Barclays (LSE: BARC.L – news) named retail banker Antony Jenkins as chief executive on Thursday, signalling a shift from riskier investment banking as it tries to recover from the interest rate-rigging scandal that brought down his predecessor. Criticised by regulators for an aggressive culture under limelight-loving American Bob Diamond, Barclays must now decide how far to curb the investment bank he built and which generates most of the British bank’s profits. His soft-spoken manner contrasting with the brash Diamond’s, Jenkins said Barclays had made mistakes and had to change to get beyond them. “Getting there will require nothing short of the transformation of how we operate the business,” he said. He told Reuters: “It would be wrong to ignore some of the things that have happened in the past. That does require us to modify the culture.” Jenkins inherits a daunting in-tray. He was appointed hours after Britain’s fourth biggest bank by market value said fraud prosecutors had launched a criminal probe into dealings with Qatar in 2008. That comes just two months after it was fined over $450 million for manipulating Libor benchmark interest rates, prompting Diamond’s resignation. Jenkins, 51, started as a graduate trainee at Barclays in 1983. After spells elsewhere, he returned six years ago to turn around its credit card business before taking on all its retail and business banking. He had been seen as the leading internal candidate to succeed Diamond, although some investors had questioned his lack of investment banking experience and would have preferred an external hire to mark a bigger change.

The investment bank has been at the heart of the firm’s recent troubles, but it delivered 54 percent of the group’s underlying profit in the first half of 2012. “The fact that he’s come up the ranks in the retail and commercial world means he’ll take a very fresh view of the investment bank,” Oriel Securities analyst Mike Trippitt said. “He’s a very capable guy.” Jenkins declined to outline plans for the investment bank. Barclays would only be following other global banks in scaling back investment banking at a time of tougher economic conditions and additional regulation, but there was no guarantee of dramatic changes. They would be “incremental rather than revolutionary” said Jason Napier, analyst at Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 – news) . Barclays shares closed down just over 1.5 percent compared to a 1.2 percent fall in the European banking index. Its (Euronext: ALITS.NX – news) shares are down over 4 percent since the Libor scandal blew up, valuing the bank at 23 billion pounds. In style, there is little doubt Jenkins will mark a contrast with the flashier Diamond, who relished being photographed handing out the trophies for England’s top soccer league, which the bank sponsors. Jenkins dislikes football. Known as “AJ”, he prefers tennis and running and likes to keep a low profile. The Oxford University graduate, who grew up in the central English town of Stoke-on-Trent (BSE: TRENTSL.BO – news) , left Barclays in 1989 and spent 16 years at U.S. rival Citi in London and New York (Frankfurt: A0DKRK – news) before returning to a bank whose origins date back over 300 years.

STABILITY

“First (OTC BB: FSTC.OB – news) is a period of stabilisation,” Jenkins said, promising to work with investors, politicians and regulators, who often bristled at the approach of Diamond, who once famously said it was time for bankers to stop apologising. A long-term plan should come in the first quarter of next year, Jenkins said. He set less ambitious financial targets than his predecessor – aiming to deliver return on equity (RoE) above cost of capital of about 11.5 percent rather than use the absolute RoE target of 13 percent set by Diamond. RoE is a key measure of profitability and many banks are struggling to match their cost of capital. The bank’s adjusted RoE was 9.9 percent in the first half of this year. Some financial analysts doubted whether Jenkins would bring about a deep change in culture. “At least he comes from the side of the bank that was blameless in the recent troubles,” said Jane Coffey, head of equities at Royal London Asset Management. Given his fondness for technology and gadgets, Jenkins may be more likely to accelerate change in retail banking as it is transformed by developments such as contactless card payment and mobile phone money transfers. The appointment of Jenkins fills the second of the top two posts left vacant at Barclays by the Libor scandal. Outgoing chairman Marcus Agius, who also resigned over the rate-rigging, will be replaced in November (Stuttgart: A0Z24E – news) by former Morgan (KOSDAQ: 019990.KQ – news) Stanley (Berlin: SYC.BE – news) advisor David Walker. His background could appease anyone worried about the future of the investment bank or the need for an outsider to bring change. Jenkins will be paid a salary of 1.1 million pounds, but could take home 8.6 million including bonus, long-term incentives and pension – or 29 percent less than his predecessor’s maximum. To think through a problem, he puts on jazz or classical music, he once said. “If I have a big meeting that I need to get pumped up for I’ll put on rock music,” he added.

Barclays picks new chairman to steer bank amid Libor crisis

By Ben Perry (AFP) – Aug 9, 2012

LONDON — Barclays on Thursday said industry veteran David Walker would become its new chairman from November, succeeding Marcus Agius who resigned over the Libor rate-rigging scandal that has rocked the British bank. A statement said “Sir David Walker has been appointed as a non-executive director of Barclays with effect from 1 September 2012 and will succeed Marcus Agius as chairman of Barclays with effect from 1 November 2012.” Walker, a former deputy head of the Bank of England and ex-chairman of US bank Morgan Stanley, said his “immediate priority, and critical to Barclays’ ongoing success, will be the appointment of a new chief executive.” Barclays is looking for a new chief executive after US national Bob Diamond quit the post at the start of July along with Agius and the bank’s chief operating officer Jerry del Missier owing to the Libor scandal. The London-listed bank was fined £290 million ($453 million, 369 million euros) in June by British and US regulators after admitting that it attempted to manipulate the Libor and Euribor rates between 2005 and 2009. Britain’s Serious Fraud Office is considering whether to bring criminal prosecutions over the Libor scandal, while Prime Minister David Cameron has launched a parliamentary inquiry into revelations that Barclays traders lied about the interest rates other banks were charging it for loans. Libor, or London Interbank Offered Rate, is a flagship London instrument used as an interest benchmark throughout the world, while Euribor is the eurozone equivalent. The rates affect what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money, while the scandal risks engulfing banks across the world.

Walker, who is 72, has worked at Britain’s Treasury and is presently a senior advisor to Morgan Stanley, said he was looking forward to playing his part “in taking the company forward after recent events.” He added in Thursday’s statement that was issued after the close of London markets: “The UK needs a strong financial services sector and Barclays has a crucial role to play in ensuring that this country has a successful, well-governed banking industry.” Walker oversaw a 2009 inquiry into the rules governing how British banks were run. The Walker Review, published in November of that year, called for financial institutions to publish the number of staff paid more than £1.0 million. The report was commissioned by the then finance minister Alistair Darling — who was part of the former Labour government — amid concerns short-term pay awards were linked to the risk-taking by banks ahead of the financial crisis. The departing Agius on Thursday said “Barclays is fortunate to have attracted” Walker to succeed him as chairman. “He will be taking over at a time when Barclays universal banking model is delivering a strong performance in difficult markets. I wish him every success as he leads Barclays at this important time.” Barclays said Walker would be paid £750,000 a year, 13 percent of which would be in the form of shares in the bank. John Sunderland, who led the process to appoint a successor to Agius, said Walker “commands great respect within the financial services industry and will bring immense experience, integrity and knowledge to the role” of chairman. Ahead of the announcement, Barclays shares closed flat at 178.95 pence on London’s benchmark FTSE 100, which gained 0.10 percent to 5,851.51 points.

Mitt Romney Goons & Baboons insulted Blacks, Hispanics, LGBT, Single Mom’s, Abortionists, Muslim-Brotherhood, Ronpaulites, Arabspringers & Area 51 Crowd. They all now ganged together ready to dole kajillion votes for a Neoconish Bitch as thick as Ann Coulter for US Prez and a Henhead as Dumb as Rush Limbaugh for VP than elect God Forbid Mitt Romney as US Prez and Paul Ryan as VP. On my Dead Body! Imagine Mitt Romney is so desperate and stooopid to get Rabbi Meir Soloveichik deliver RNC Convention Invocation in Hebrew. History repeats itself. Jews dug McCain’s Grave in Tampa. McCain lost the Whitehouse in Tampa. Has Mitt Romney lost his mind? Imagine if George “Bush the kid” showed up at Tampa RNC Convention. Mitt Romney must kiss his Presidency run Goodbye and forfeit to Obama. Whitehouse 2012 is for sale at $6B. Do you think Mormon Loooser & Saudi Surplus Jews dare to waste such cash on Mitt Romney hoping that he will give them Jerusalem?

Here is Some Mind-steroid-Must-Read from Slate political Reporter David Weigel:

TAMPA—The lights dimmed, and there—at long last!—was former President George W. Bush. Sort of. A video started rolling on the convention stage’s web of screens, opening with Bush, in mid-sentence, talking about how proud he’d been when his dad first saw him in the White House. New camera angle, and there he was, George H.W. Bush, carrying the anecdote. “I was in the bathtub at the White House residence,” mused the senior Bush, “and Ramsey, the guy that worked there, came in and said—get outta that bathtub, your son is in the Oval Office!” “As I recall,” said the younger Bush, “the conversation went something like this. ‘Welcome, Mr. President. It’s good to see you, Mr. President. And that’s all we said.’ ” It was a short video, shot by the old Bush friend Mark McKinnon, who copped the Errol Morris style of letting people get personal and stream-of-consciousness without any interviewer prodding them on. The two former presidents’ wives appeared on a couch, talking the same way. Everybody praised the Romney family. Senior Bush described junior Bush as “a good, honest president who got a lot of things done.” And … scene. The five-minute tribute to Old Guys Hanging Out and Talking was the Republican National Convention’s only reference to the last Republican presidency. The name “George W. Bush” has not appeared in any convention speeches. Absolutely, there were years between 2000 and 2009, and someone was in charge, but we are never told who. We’re just told that it was lousy. The election, said Paul Ryan, will not be fought over “the economy as Barack Obama inherited it.” The president, said Mike Huckabee, was “aiming excuses at his predecessor,” whatever his name was. Republican delegates aren’t stupid. Unless they’re for Ron Paul, they probably liked Bush. Some of them bought copies of Rebel-in-Chief and prayed for the president’s family and worked in GOP offices with pictures of Bush throwing the first pitch at a post-9/11 Yankees game. And hey, Jeb Bush is here, flitting around to various education-themed and corporate-sponsored luncheons, speaking from the stage tonight. But George Bush isn’t popular anymore, and hasn’t been popular in years. “It’s a pragmatic approach,” said North Dakota delegate Clare Carlson, shrugging. “Obviously, his popularity wasn’t real high when he left office. He seems to be comfortable with how he did as president, under difficult circumstances.” To be more specific: “Things went well for his presidency right up until the day when voters gave control of Congress to the Democrats.” You hear this often from the ground-level Republicans, especially the Texas delegates. They worked hard for the guy, and the media smeared him unfairly. In 2007, as his approval ratings fell through floor after floor, Bush said that “history [was] going to have to judge” him. That’s what everybody here expects. History’s just not fair, yet. “The smart thing to do is focus on here and now and not give President Obama an opportunity to bring up George Bush’s presidency,” said Ari Fleischer, Bush’s first spokesman. “Obviously, I’m sorrowful about it. I’m still who I was.” But the offstage strategy would work. “You create things that drive the news, and typically people ignore the things that aren’t in front of them. If George Bush walked onstage, he’d get a huge ovation. But people aren’t going to walk out of here wishing he was onstage.” Maybe not, but it’s a strange feeling to pretend that eight years of policymaking never happened. “It’s too bad,” said former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who retired in 2006. “He should be here. We should celebrate with him. That’s my feeling. The first two years I was speaker, we paid down about $650 billion of public debt. Then we had 9/11. So I think history will treat him well. We did have an increase in spending, but it was almost all homeland security and national security spending.” But what about the reasons Republicans distanced themselves from Bush? The Tea Party movement, in its infancy, was framed up as a rebellion against both parties. Yes, we screwed up, too. The most effective Tea Party spokespeople corrected for Bush’s unpopularity by denouncing Medicare Part D and TARP—one popular program, one mess. The movement—grassroots and donors and groups like the Club for Growth—tomahawked a couple of Republican incumbents, which had the long-term effect of changing everybody’s image. That’s how Rep. Paul Ryan can say he was “miserable during the last majority,” when he was voting for the bills FreedomWorks hated. “There’s no doubt that Mitt Romney and George W. Bush are very different men,” said Ted Cruz, a former Bush lawyer who’s now a Tea Party-branded Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Texas. “I think George W. Bush has made a decision to retire from public life, and not to intrude. President Obama, unfortunately, has tried to blame everything under the sun on former President Bush, and I think that people aren’t buying it.” Polling contradicts that. More people blame Bush for the recession—still, after three years—than Obama. And that’s why the Bush name will make its first non-canned-video appearance at the start of Jeb’s speech. He has to defend his brother, he told Fox News. “That’s kind of my role in life now.”

Dhahi Khalfan ain’t UAE President Spokesman. Dhahi Khalfan has the lawful Right for Freedom of speech in his Personal capacity to grab Kuwaiti Headlines and if he ain’t then we have something to talk about. Insulted Kuwaiti Lawmakers must reciprocate if it is in order or tweet Dhahi Khalfan questioning his Authority to do so. Am sure that will do it in total shame. Dhahi Khalfan ain’t defending UAE no mo. He is just terrified and Outstandingly losing Sponsored Headlines. Go easy on him. The damage is done and it is beyond repair its Foolish if one ever opts otherwise because Dhahi Khalfan needs 2 million Tranquilized Bullets to commit Genocide against Debt-Laden Unprivileged Emarati Arabspringers. Obama can supply them a Dirt Cheap Price from China. He’s polling right now! He needs $4b to keep Whitehouse for another 4 Fucking years. The sooner the better.
It’s boring but I like to sport a thought.
UAE Needs 3 Political Party System Brewed Outta Smart Blends of US, UK, Japan, Austria and Israel(Listen-To-Your-Enemy) Avant-garde Democracies to Short-circuit Bigotry, Discrimination, Injustice, Narrow-Mindedness, and Sectarianism Madness:
1. Conservatives Party: For who like UAE to stay unchanged and others to live on their Own Terms.
2. Special Interest Party: For Corporatism, Businesses, LGBT, Sunni, Shiite, Minorities, Tribes, Royalties, Conspiracy Theorists, Zeitgeists and Pacifists etc.
3. Constitutional Libertarian Party: For Austrian Economic System, Common Wealth Watch Dogs, Accountability, Who-Own-What-People, Little Government-Large-Market, Law & Order.
Obaid Karki is a Sexagenarian UAE Paleoconservative Provocateur with a Picassoic Attitude, Blackbelt-Diehart-Paulite Constitutionalist Libertarian, Diogenesist, Spinoziste, Qutbist, Kabbalist, Pantheon, Hexalingual, Automath, Antitribal-Gentiles-Cabal, Unaffiliated to State or any Religiosity Cult and Seigniorage Banksters Sharia Scam.

A mother suspected of leaving her five children alone in a house with their two housemaids for ten months as she hid from creditors is to face charges of neglect. The woman, an Emirati whose identity has not been disclosed, is thought to have been hiding from creditors to whom she owed debts of Dh800,000 while the maids cared for the three boys and two girls – aged between two and 10 years. The mother is thought to have paid occasional visits during which she would order the maids to lock the children in a room so they could not spot her. A friend of the woman noticed the children were unattended during an unannounced visit in June and notified police when she was informed that the mother no longer lived there. She was told the mother had last visited the house in March. Dubai Police’s General Department of Human Rights then visited the children and found them in poor condition. Their investigation found that the mother had gained custody of the children after divorcing in 2009. She had promised to take care of the children while the father agreed to provide financial support. The mother told police that she was facing financial problems and that her husband was not providing for them. However, the father said that he had been paying the children’s expenses as ordered by court, but added that he had filed a lawsuit to regain custody as he believed his wife was neglecting them. Only two of the children were registered in school. The department’s director Colonel Mohammed Al Murr said that following their investigation the children had been placed with their father while authorities decided how to proceed. On receiving the department’s report, Dubai’s Attorney General Essam Al Humaidan ordered the woman to be charged with endangering the lives of juveniles. salamir@thenational.ae